Dimebag Darrell Would Have Forgiven Phil Anselmo

Dimebag Darrell’s long-term partner Rita Haney says that the legendary guitarist would have wanted there to be peace between former Pantera members, vocalist Phil Anselmo, and drummer Vinnie Paul.
“Darrell was probably the person that had the most forgiving nature. I mean, he had family members, friends… things that all of us have all done to each other, and he always forgave. And there’s not a person in our camp or in our whole family that hadn’t had a problem that he didn’t forgive.” Adding, “And some of them were really brutal — like the things with Philip and the drug abuse and just stuff like that — but I know him, and I know that that’s the way he would be as well.”
Haney told Rock My Monkey TV, that she considers Anselmo family, and has recently started to rebuild a relationship with him. “We’ve exchanged a few e- mails, and we bumped into each other in London,” she explained. “We’re still in the process of talking. Everybody has still resentments towards each other as far as things from the past…There’s always room in my heart for him. I love him. He’s my family, and I would never want anything bad to happen to him.”
The ongoing feud between Anselmo and Paul has been well documented over the years. To begin with, the war of words was most heated between Anselmo and Dime, which ended in Anselmo telling Metal Hammer Magazine that, ‘Dimebag deserves to be beaten severely.’ Shortly after the issue was released Dimebag was tragically shot dead while performing with Damageplan. Anselmo was not welcomed at Dimebag’s funeral. In the years following, several verbal attacks have been fired from both Paul and Anselmo.
The renowned drummer didn’t take the news too well, when he heard that Haney had been back in contact with Anselmo, but Haney insists that in time, he’ll come around. “We had a little bump in the road since I started talking to Philip — (Vinnie’s) a little hot at me — but you know what?! We’re family and I just hope someday he sees the light that I know Darrell is about, which is forgiving, and I know it’ll come in time, as far as him not holding on to something so bitter.”
Haney says that feud is making the pair forget what really matters. “Our issues and our little pettiness — it is petty… That’s not the big picture — the big picture [is] all these people that loved Darrell. They’re what matters — not who we’re mad at.
“And that shouldn’t be somebody else’s burden. And I think in time… (Vinnie and I) work on everything together. I have all of (Darrell’s) notes, all of his tapes, all of his video tapes. I mean, I lived with him.
“You can only live with each other so much on the road, and you do have that significant other that you tell everything to. And it takes both of us (Vinnie and I) to make (Darrell’s) legacy the best that it can be. And that’s what I’m about. I have no animosity.”